The Sacramento Kings are less than two weeks away from their 2025-26 season opener, but they will have to quickly learn to adapt to life without Keegan Murray.
After departing Friday night’s preseason game in Portland with a thumb injury, the Kings announced on Sunday that the fourth-year forward suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb and will undergo surgery, sidelining him for four to six weeks.
Sacramento will re-evaluate Murray within the four- to six-week timeframe before establishing a return-to-action plan.
More on Kings forward Keegan Murray
Keegan Murray is entering a contract year as both he and the Kings evaluate their partnership beyond this season.
While Murray will become a free agent come Summer 2026, Sacramento will reserve the right to match any offer that the former fourth overall pick receives in restricted free agency.
Aside from Murray’s impending free agency, the Kings are now facing an immediate disadvantage as they navigate the start of the season without their starting power forward. Murray’s defense will be sorely missed, especially his ability to defend positions one through four–and in some cases, one through five–on a roster that lacks similar versatilily.
We’ll see in the coming days how head coach Doug Christie re-shuffles his deck, whether it be by inserting Dario Saric or Doug McDermott in the starting lineup, or by going with an upside move like rookie wing Nique Clifford.
Either way, a challenging start to the season just got a whole lot more difficult for Sacramento as they play the first 20-plus games without Keegan Murray.
More Sacramento Kings content from Sactown Sports
The Sacramento Kings are less than two weeks away from opening up the 2025-26 season in Phoenix, and the plot continues to thicken when it comes to Russell Westbrook’s free agency.
Sacramento has been linked to the former NBA MVP since before the free agency floodgates opened in late June, but no deal has come to fruition as the preseason rolls on and the start of the regular season approaches.
Things have been quiet on the Kings-Westbrook front for some time, but ESPN’s Shams Charania re-emphasized the link between the two parties during Friday’s telecast of NBA Today.
“I’m told there is strong mutual interest between Russell Westbrook and the Sacramento Kings,” Charania said. “The Kings have a need for a reserve point guard… He’s got relationships across that organization. Domantas Sabonis he’s close with, played with him. He played with Dennis Schroder as well. DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, they have LA ties.
“[Kings assistant general manager] B.J. Armstrong. He knows B.J. from the agency side, and he has respect for Scott Perry, [the Kings’] new general manager, and Doug Christie, their new head coach. We’ll see if a deal gets done before the start of the season, or during the upcoming season.”
Shams: Kings, Westbrook have ‘strong mutual interest’ as season nears
Upcoming Sacramento Kings schedule for the 2025-26 season
Preseason
Wednesday, October 15th vs. Los Angeles Clippers – 7 PM PT
Friday, October 17th @ Los Angeles Lakers – 7 PM PT
Regular Season
Wednesday, October 22nd – @ Phoenix Suns – 7 PM PT
Friday, October 24th – vs. Utah Jazz – 7 PM PT
Sunday, October 26th – vs. Los Angeles Lakers – 6 PM PT
Tuesday, October 28th – @ Oklahoma City Thunder – 5 PM PT
Wednesday, October 29th – @ Chicago Bulls – 5 PM PT
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